Tuesday, 26 April 2022
This May Be The #1 Best Vitamin to Fight Cancer, New Research Says It's naturally found in a variety of foods. By Desirée O
Kane Tanaka: Japanese woman certified world's oldest person dies
Monday, 25 April 2022
BREAKING NEWS: Russia is rocked by two huge fires at fuel depot and military facility
Bangalore Traffic Police deploys ANPR cameras to auto-detect offenders
Sunday, 24 April 2022
Christians celebrate ‘Holy Fire’ ceremony in tense Jerusalem
Buhari, Tinubu, govs, monarchs mourn as Alaafin dies at 83, buried
Friday, 22 April 2022
Japan school gets $27,000 water bill because teacher wanted to ‘prevent Covid'
Thursday, 21 April 2022
Satellite images appear to show new mass graves allegedly made for Mariupol residents killed in the war
Satellite images released Thursday appeared to show more than 200 new graves in a town where Ukrainian officials say the Russians have been burying Mariupol residents killed in the fighting.
Cristiano Ronaldo shares touching picture of newborn girl after loss of her twin brother
Queen Elizabeth Celebrates Her 96th Birthday with Her Most Majestic Photo Ever!
Russia tests nuclear-capable missile that Putin calls world's best
Arsenal produce at crucial moment
Tuesday, 19 April 2022
American man sues employer after unwanted birthday party, gets awarded US$450,000
Strong winds up to 80 km/hr expected to hit Toronto
Monday, 18 April 2022
Sunday, 17 April 2022
Writer Who Started ASAP Rocky Cheating Rumors Issues Apology While Amina Muaddi Also Chimes In
UK archbishop slams govt’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda
The pope makes an Easter plea for peace in Ukraine, citing a nuclear risk
A South Carolina death row inmate picks a firing squad over the electric chair
Two women prisoners in US jail get pregnant after having s*x with trans inmate
Rain continues to hit South Africa’s flood-ravaged east
Russian oligarch’s super yacht arrives in Turkish waters
N Korea tests new weapon that ‘will boost nuclear capabilities’
Man arrested for stealing 2 kids in Ogun church
Friday, 15 April 2022
Man in India dies by self-immolation after his boss asks for s*x with his wife in exchange for transfer
Thursday, 14 April 2022
12 military impersonators arrested in Lagos, Ogun
26 Die, Others Missing In Sokoto Boat Mishap
Manchester City reach the Champions League semi-finals 1-0 on aggregate.
Wednesday, 13 April 2022
More than $2.6M lost to cryptocurrency frauds in less than four months: RCMP
Erik ten Hag: Man Utd on brink of appointing Ajax boss
Tuesday, 12 April 2022
In California, an army of genetically engineered mosquitoes awaits release. Will it backfire?
In the mosquito breeding rooms of British biotech company Oxitec, scientists line up fresh eggs, each the size of a grain of salt. Using microscopic needles, the white-coated researchers inject each egg with a dab of a proprietary synthetic DNA.
For four days, Oxitec technicians care for the eggs, watching for those that hatch into wriggling brown larvae. Those “injection survivors,” as the company calls them, face a battery of tests to ensure their genetic modification is successful.
Soon, millions of these engineered mosquitoes could be set loose in California in an experiment recently approved by the federal government.
Oxitec, a private company, says its genetically modified bugs could help save half the world’s population from the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito, which can spread diseases such as yellow fever, chikungunya and dengue to humans. Female offspring produced by these modified insects will die, according to Oxitec’s plan, causing the population to collapse.
“Precise. Environmentally sustainable. Non-toxic,” the company says on its website of its product trademarked as the “Friendly” mosquito.
Scientists independent from the company and critical of the proposal say not so fast. They say unleashing the experimental creatures into nature has risks that haven’t yet been fully studied, including possible harm to other species or unexpectedly making the local mosquito population harder to control.
Even scientists who see the potential of genetic engineering are uneasy about releasing the transgenic insects into neighborhoods because of how hard such trials are to control.
“There needs to be more transparency about why these experiments are being done,” said Natalie Kofler, a bioethicist at Harvard Medical School who has followed the company’s work. “How are we weighing the risks and benefits?”
She pointed out that the possible benefits of the technology in California are lower than they would be in more tropical regions of the world where mosquito-borne disease outbreaks often threaten humans. California has never had a case in which an Aedes aegypti was found to transmit disease.
A captured Aedes aegypti mosquito is shown in 2016 at the Florida Mosquito Control District Office in Marathon, Fla.
(Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press)
Nathan Rose, Oxitec’s head of regulatory affairs, said the company chose California because the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have spread rapidly after being discovered in the state about a decade ago. The tiny, aggressive day-biters can lay eggs in a space as small as a water-filled bottle cap left in the backyard.
Rose noted that the company found its mosquito reduced the population in a Brazilian neighborhood by 95% in just 13 weeks.
So far, Oxitec has released little of its data from that experiment or from a more recent release in the Florida Keys. It hasn’t yet published any of those results in a peer-reviewed scientific journal — publications that scientists expect when evaluating a new drug or technology.
On March 7, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it had granted Oxitec a permit to release its transgenic insects on 29,400 acres in the counties of San Bernardino, Fresno, Stanislaus and Tulare.
The company plans to start the release in northern Tulare County in the Central Valley, where it has partnered with the local mosquito control district based in the city of Visalia.
The experiment must still be approved by the state Department of Pesticide Regulation.
Inserting synthetic DNA into mosquitoes
To create its mosquito, known as the OX5034, Oxitec started with Aedes aegypti captured in Mexico’s Chiapas state. Its scientists then inserted into the insects a synthetic DNA sequence they call the “self-limiting” gene.
When the engineered male mosquitoes are released into neighborhoods and mate with the wild bugs, the gene works to kill the female offspring, Oxitec said. The male progeny fly away to mate with more of the local mosquito population, further spreading the company’s gene, which it says is lethal only to the Aedes aegypti and not other species.
The company said that because it is releasing only males there is no danger of the public being bitten by an engineered insect. Only female mosquitoes bite and carry disease.
Oxitec scientists also inserted a fluorescent marker gene into the modified bugs. That gene produces a protein to make its mosquitoes glow when exposed to a specific color of light so that the company can track them.
Genetically modified aedes aegypti mosquitoes are held in a container before being released in Panama City in 2016.
(Arnulfo Franco / Associated Press)
The company plans to use the data from the California experiment to try to gain full commercial approval of its engineered mosquitoes from the EPA — a goal that would substantially increase the private company’s value. It uses the same technology in myriad other invasive pests, including the fall armyworm and the soybean looper, which it hopes to sell in the U.S. and around the world.
Oxitech is owned by Third Security, a private company in Virginia founded by billionaire Randal J. Kirk. The former lawyer became wealthy through founding and investing in pharmaceutical companies. He received more than $1 billion in 2007 when his company New River Pharmaceuticals and its attention deficit disorder drug called Vyvanse were purchased by Shire.
More recently, Kirk has focused on experimental products created through genetic engineering. Another of his investments is the genetically modified salmon created by the company AquaBounty to grow faster with less food. AquaBounty is now farm-raising the modified fish for commercial sale at facilities in Indiana and on Prince Edward Island.
Experiment in the Central Valley
When it comes to the environment, growing modified fish inside a factory raises different issues than releasing winged experimental creatures into the wild, which the company hopes to do soon in Tulare County if state regulators agree.
Oxitec has proposed releasing its mosquitoes at 48 different locations in the county. Under the plan, the company said it would release a maximum of 3.5 million mosquitoes a week.
“This is alarming,” said Angel Garcia, who lives near Visalia, where the first engineered bugs may be released. “Residents have not been consulted and they have not consented to being part of this.”
Garcia, who does outreach to local residents as part of his job for the nonprofit group Californians for Pesticide Reform, pointed to a hiring event that Oxitec hosted in Visalia on March 17. A company flyer said it was hiring field and lab technicians.
“It’s as if this is already a done deal,” he said.
Rose told The Times that the company was still waiting for state approval while also continuing with plans to build a research facility in Visalia to aid in the work...
Dozens dead in Philippines landslides, flooding: Authorities
Ronaldo: Police investigating after Manchester United forward appears to break fan's phone
Merseyside Police are investigating an alleged assault after Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to break a fan's phone.
Footage was shared on social media alongside comments claiming he smashed the device as he left the pitch after his side's 1-0 loss at Everton.
Ronaldo, 37, later apologised on social media.
Merseyside Police said they were investigating "reports of an alleged assault" at Goodison Park on Saturday.
A spokesperson said they were liaising with both Manchester United and Everton.
"As players were leaving the pitch at 2.30pm, it was reported that a boy was assaulted by one of the away team as they left the pitch," they added.
"Inquiries are under way and officers are currently working with Everton to review CCTV footage and are carrying out extensive witness enquiries to establish if an offence has taken place.
"Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police contact centre quoting reference number 228 of 9 April 2022."
Manchester United said they were aware of "an alleged incident" and would "co-operate with any police inquiries".
The result damaged United's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League and came against an Everton side who had been one point above the relegation zone before kick-off.
"It's never easy to deal with emotions in difficult moments such as the one we are facing," said Portugal international Ronaldo.
"Nevertheless, we always have to be respectful, patient and set the example for all the youngsters who love the beautiful game.
"I would like to apologise for my outburst and, if possible, I would like to invite this supporter to watch a game at Old Trafford as a sign of fair play and sportsmanship."
Footage was shared on social media alongside comments claiming he smashed the device as he left the pitch after his side's 1-0 loss at Everton.
Ronaldo, 37, later apologised on social media.
Merseyside Police said they were investigating "reports of an alleged assault" at Goodison Park on Saturday.
A spokesperson said they were liaising with both Manchester United and Everton.
"As players were leaving the pitch at 2.30pm, it was reported that a boy was assaulted by one of the away team as they left the pitch," they added.
"Inquiries are under way and officers are currently working with Everton to review CCTV footage and are carrying out extensive witness enquiries to establish if an offence has taken place.
"Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police contact centre quoting reference number 228 of 9 April 2022."
Manchester United said they were aware of "an alleged incident" and would "co-operate with any police inquiries".
The result damaged United's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League and came against an Everton side who had been one point above the relegation zone before kick-off.
"It's never easy to deal with emotions in difficult moments such as the one we are facing," said Portugal international Ronaldo.
"Nevertheless, we always have to be respectful, patient and set the example for all the youngsters who love the beautiful game.
"I would like to apologise for my outburst and, if possible, I would like to invite this supporter to watch a game at Old Trafford as a sign of fair play and sportsmanship."
Monday, 11 April 2022
Australian election campaign begins, polls show opposition ahead
Indonesian leader denies delay of 2024 polls to extend term
Sunday, 10 April 2022
Liverpool v Man City showdown was like watching heavyweight boxers, says Klopp
16 Malaysians duped by fake job offers in Cambodia rescued
Imran Khan ousted as Pakistan's PM after vote
FG unveils new NSCDC uniform to be worn Tuesdays
French election: Macron faces stiffest test as France votes
Fight between Instagram influencer and boyfriend ends with his fatal stabbing inside luxury Miami apartment: police
Saturday, 9 April 2022
Zimbabwe - Chaos as female teachers abandon their houses after being r*ped by se_x starved ‘snakes and goblins’
Russian ex-wife of Roman Abramovich secretly moved from NYC to Sardinia with new husband
Friday, 8 April 2022
Shane McMahon’s Son Commits to Play College Football
Photo credit: @ODmcmahon
The oldest grandchild to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon announced this week that he is set to become a Hoosier. Declan, born on February 13, 2004, noted on Twitter that he visited with several schools in recent months, including Rutgers and Duke, but finally decided on Indiana this week.
China warns U.S. against House Speaker Pelosi visiting Taiwan
Thursday, 7 April 2022
Roman Abramovich has bought a new club, with announcement expected on Friday
Villarreal stun German champions Bayern Munich
Wednesday, 6 April 2022
Toddler fatally shoots 4-year-old sister at Pennsylvania gas station
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